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Story Friday May 4, 2018

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Way to go Tedd! You got got the Will of Magic to restore all the features of the previous systems, which included the banning of Uryuoms from using Earth magic. So your girlfriend could maybe be a wizard after all!

Also, the "golem" (cookies to everyone who noticed the resemblance to Uryioms, although where the heck are their antennae?) looks tougher now. Well, shouldn't be any problem for "Magus" Ellen the Battle Mage, right? Right?

Question: since the Library is in Egypt, how come the "golem" is somewhere in the American midwest?

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And I though the PREVIOUS page raises more questions than it answers.

So, Uryuoms were on Earth at least TWO resets ago, because last reset was due to horde of fireball throwers. And they did have access to earth magic and apparently got little power hungry with it. Also, they used to have hairs?

Is this some heretical sect using object oriented programming?

(Is that the same Mantle of Heka we know? Why is he not using some "showing himself bigger" trick?)

... is CURRENT Uryuom government still holding grudge?

1 hour ago, Tom Sewell said:

Way to go Tedd! You got got the Will of Magic to restore all the features of the previous systems, which included the banning of Uryuoms from using Earth magic. So your girlfriend could maybe be a wizard after all!

Probably not wizard per EGS definition ... even if Uryuoms can be wizards, it would be as rare as between humans. But she can became magic user. As if her telekinesis wouldn't be enough. Not speaking about what Noah can do.

However, what about other Uryuoms? This could also be start of interplanetary war ... waaaait, does General Shade Tail have access to this magic? Maybe Lord Tedd's empire is even bigger than expected ...

1 hour ago, Tom Sewell said:

Also, the "golem" (cookies to everyone who noticed the resemblance to Uryioms, although where the heck are their antennae?) looks tougher now.

Or at least more angry.

Also, he definitely lost my sympathy. As a member of group which tried to rob humans of their destiny, I don't believe his reasons for denying anything to Ellen are in any way good.

1 hour ago, Tom Sewell said:

Well, shouldn't be any problem for "Magus" Ellen the Battle Mage, right? Right?

... depends. How tough are those dragons on magus world? :)

Wait. The golem now remembers lot of important stuff ... if Magus will destroy it, no character will know. But this really doesn't seem like something which can be solved by talking. Unless Grace will appear for some reason and the golem will recognize her as his superior.

(Also, the language probably IS uryomoco and Elliot should be able to understand him.)

... wait. Is Ellen stronger now because she was awakened by FV5 which was based on uryuom power?

1 hour ago, Tom Sewell said:

Question: since the Library is in Egypt, how come the "golem" is somewhere in the American midwest?

Tomb raiders. I mean, someone stole it from Egypt and stored in America, possibly with bunch of other artifacts recognized as magical ...

EDIT: Just realized. The golem - OR Magus - might be cause of big crater Arthur was feared of. Then:

Edward: This time it's not my son fault!

Arthur: It is, however the alternative would be worse.

Assistant Director: There is a mile wide crater where our facility was!

Arthur: Yes, I know. I stand behind my words.

 

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1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

ROFL. Thank you. That one just saved my day. XD

 Thank you. As someone who thought Voltaire was Colonel Sanders, anything new seems like a facsimile.

This is an odd problem. :danshiftyeyes:

55 minutes ago, partner555 said:

OMG! That was an Uryuom golem!

Uh oh. Should have not been too standoffish then. He might turn into bits sooner or later.

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/me does a cookie dance

The golem is Uryuom design, and Uryuoms were on Earth in ancient times. Though I guess the Library it was referring to is Heka's after all and Uryuoms were attacking it for some reason related to them thinking that Humans shouldn't have magic.

The question is, do Uryuoms remember this or have records of it that they teach in their history classes? Does the FBI know that they were once aggressors in ancient times? Heka's negotiations must have been instrumental in Uryuoms being more friendly today.

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48 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Heka's negotiations must have been instrumental in Uryuoms being more friendly today.

It's a possibility, but since Michelin Man was already damaged before he got crated up, I kind of think negotiations broke down about one panel after this comic if the flashback were to go on. Heka is probably more dangerous than most immortals, maybe more than pre-refresh Pandora and (I really hope) Voltaire. The fact that Michelin Man seems to remember nothing between the Library and waking up in a crate does support the idea that the ass-kicking he took happened in the Library.

Is Michelin Man a golem? Only Dan knows; Kevin called him a golem, but Kevin doesn't strike me as the most reliable source. Why doesn't he have antennae? Maybe he does and he's just not deploying them.

Why doesn't Elliot understand what Michelin Man was saying? Elliot hasn't heard MM at all unless he caught what MM was saying just before he hit the pavement like a football field away.

Why did Dan say MM was speaking in a long forgotten tongue? Well, Uryuom being a species implies that they could have different languages, and even if they have had only one, languages change. Try reading Beowulf or even Chaucer now in the original. And Uryuom is a long-forgotten tongue from a certain point of view in that magic and the existence of the Uryuom among Moperverse Earthlings have been hidden for a long, long time except from the various Illuminati, MIBs, Top Men, et al. Or Dan trolled us again.

Borrowing a Star Trek meme, the Uryuom in the flashback may be like Klingons: They might have looked different in the past for a reason they do not discuss with outsiders. Maybe Dan is doing a redesign? I understand the Klingons are undergoing yet another redesign so there's an excuse to sell new Klingon action figures to better fit the latest re-imagining of the Star Trek legacy.

 

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The conflict involving the Uryuoms, Humans, Magic, the Library, and the Hecka Figure (possibly the current holder of the Mantle of Hecka, more likely a predecessor) was over a VERY long time ago.

But if the Golem was unaware of the passage of time while deactivated and crated, then it would not be unreasonable for it to take the reactions of some scared, magic using teens as the delaying tactics of light infantry or guards who need only slow their enemy down while summoning reinforcements.

Stopping to talk with anyone in the warehouse at this point would probably be about the least plausible course of action for the Golem.

If the Golem presses the attack, Elliot, Ellen, Magus, and Kevin(?) might be able to defend themselves.  Possibly even damage the Golem further.  But I doubt they could deactivate it intact or convince it to surrender and submit to questioning.

On the other hand, if the Golem does attack, the mile wide crater is, perhaps, among the best possible outcomes.

The long term threat is if the Golem decides to retreat at this point.  It will look for its commanders or allies.  And who out there would be in a position to know the ancient Golem's language and repair the damaged brute?

Voltaire is about to get a henchman.

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Speculation: the Uryuom that the golem is remembering spoke Old Uryuom, not Modern Uryuom, and either withdrew from Earth or died out here. The modern Uryuom are a much more recent arrival.

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6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

It's a possibility, but since Michelin Man was already damaged before he got crated up, I kind of think negotiations broke down about one panel after this comic if the flashback were to go on. Heka is probably more dangerous than most immortals, maybe more than pre-refresh Pandora and (I really hope) Voltaire. The fact that Michelin Man seems to remember nothing between the Library and waking up in a crate does support the idea that the ass-kicking he took happened in the Library.

Heka mentions "if you continue this assault" so it's quite possible the golem had already been damaged but then Heka called a ceasefire to warn them of magic potentially changing if they continued. whether or not they heeded his words might be the next part of the golem's memory we see.

As for Heka being more powerful than Pre-refresh Pandora, he stated "As powerful as I am, you'd still find a way to make me regret being manipulative" so maybe they were about equals? or at the very least Heka wouldn't have been able to beat Pandora easily.

6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Is Michelin Man a golem? Only Dan knows; Kevin called him a golem, but Kevin doesn't strike me as the most reliable source. Why doesn't he have antennae? Maybe he does and he's just not deploying them.

In the last panel, the Uryuoms with pony tails don't have antennae. So maybe Uryuoms developed antennae later? I guess the question is, did those ancient Uryuoms have the shapeshifting abilities modern ones do? Or maybe the "situation" that Heka sympathized with lead to them becoming shapeshifters? Maybe that's why Uryuoms are now friendly with Humans, because Heka and maybe some ancient magic using Humans were able to convince Uryuoms to let them help find a solution to whatever situation they had.

6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Why doesn't Elliot understand what Michelin Man was saying? Elliot hasn't heard MM at all unless he caught what MM was saying just before he hit the pavement like a football field away.

Why did Dan say MM was speaking in a long forgotten tongue? Well, Uryuom being a species implies that they could have different languages, and even if they have had only one, languages change. Try reading Beowulf or even Chaucer now in the original. And Uryuom is a long-forgotten tongue from a certain point of view in that magic and the existence of the Uryuom among Moperverse Earthlings have been hidden for a long, long time except from the various Illuminati, MIBs, Top Men, et al. Or Dan trolled us again.

Someone else asked that on Twitter, and Dan said that it wasn't Uryuomoco.

I asked if it is was a completely different language altogether or if it was just an ancient version that might still have some elements that would tip Elliot off to Uryuom origins, we'll see, I hinted that it could be a reason to get William and Gillan some panel time again. ;)

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13 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Way to go Tedd! You got got the Will of Magic to restore all the features of the previous systems, which included the banning of Uryuoms from using Earth magic. So your girlfriend could maybe be a wizard after all!

Except we've been told before that Grace could learn magic, it would just require a lot of effort; also Noah can use magic. So maybe the Uryuoms in the flashback backed off, or maybe it the magic change didn't completely block their access to magic, or maybe a more recent magic change restored some of their magic access... Or perhaps (and this seems the most likely to me), full-blooded Uryuoms couldn't use magic (besides Uryuom Power) between the time of the flashback and the final magic change, but part-human chimeras inherited the ability to use magic from their human sides.

13 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Question: since the Library is in Egypt, how come the "golem" is somewhere in the American midwest?

Indiana Jones recovered it from an ancient temple filled with still-functional traps in one of his untold adventures.

8 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Why did Dan say MM was speaking in a long forgotten tongue? Well, Uryuom being a species implies that they could have different languages, and even if they have had only one, languages change. Try reading Beowulf or even Chaucer now in the original. And Uryuom is a long-forgotten tongue from a certain point of view in that magic and the existence of the Uryuom among Moperverse Earthlings have been hidden for a long, long time except from the various Illuminati, MIBs, Top Men, et al. Or Dan trolled us again.

Maybe, as Scotty said, it's an ancient version of Uryuomoco. Or maybe it's the same long-forgotten tongue Heka spoke to Pandora with (it might have been a Lingua Franca in that part of the ancient world).

8 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Borrowing a Star Trek meme, the Uryuom in the flashback may be like Klingons: They might have looked different in the past for a reason they do not discuss with outsiders. Maybe Dan is doing a redesign? I understand the Klingons are undergoing yet another redesign so there's an excuse to sell new Klingon action figures to better fit the latest re-imagining of the Star Trek legacy.

Uryuoms are shape-shifters; there's no need for a retcon or complex explanation for them changing appearance. Probably styles were just different back then.

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10 hours ago, Scotty said:

The question is, do Uryuoms remember this or have records of it that they teach in their history classes? Does the FBI know that they were once aggressors in ancient times? Heka's negotiations must have been instrumental in Uryuoms being more friendly today.

Note that Uryuoms don't have hive mind, so even if there are records, it may be top secret with no Uryuom we know knowing about them.

And they may be more friendly because those are different Uryuoms.

However, I did already raised the question if there may be some group of Uryuoms still holding grudge.

7 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

If the Golem presses the attack, Elliot, Ellen, Magus, and Kevin(?) might be able to defend themselves.  Possibly even damage the Golem further.  But I doubt they could deactivate it intact or convince it to surrender and submit to questioning.

As I said, only option which would keep the golem for questioning is if someone the golem will recognize as his superior will appear. Some Uryuom ... or Seyunolu.

7 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

And who out there would be in a position to know the ancient Golem's language and repair the damaged brute?

Voltaire is about to get a henchman.

I'm pretty sure the golem will recognize Voltaire as enemy.

3 hours ago, Scotty said:

In the last panel, the Uryuoms with pony tails don't have antennae. So maybe Uryuoms developed antennae later? I guess the question is, did those ancient Uryuoms have the shapeshifting abilities modern ones do? Or maybe the "situation" that Heka sympathized with lead to them becoming shapeshifters? Maybe that's why Uryuoms are now friendly with Humans, because Heka and maybe some ancient magic using Humans were able to convince Uryuoms to let them help find a solution to whatever situation they had.

There may already be group of Uryuoms with antennae existing at that time and just not attacking the library.

50 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:
14 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Way to go Tedd! You got got the Will of Magic to restore all the features of the previous systems, which included the banning of Uryuoms from using Earth magic. So your girlfriend could maybe be a wizard after all!

Except we've been told before that Grace could learn magic, it would just require a lot of effort; also Noah can use magic. So maybe the Uryuoms in the flashback backed off, or maybe it the magic change didn't completely block their access to magic, or maybe a more recent magic change restored some of their magic access... Or perhaps (and this seems the most likely to me), full-blooded Uryuoms couldn't use magic (besides Uryuom Power) between the time of the flashback and the final magic change, but part-human chimeras inherited the ability to use magic from their human sides.

Seems most likely to me as well: as part-uryuom part-native-earth Seyunolu, Grace is able to use both of her sides - her Uryuom side will give her Uryuom power, shapeshifting and telekinesis, while her human side could give her spells, but she would need to suppress the Uryuom side first.

The magic change however can mean she will be able to learn magic easier, without suppressing her Uryuom side.

53 minutes ago, ChronosCat said:

Uryuoms are shape-shifters; there's no need for a retcon or complex explanation for them changing appearance. Probably styles were just different back then.

I'm not sure if they are supposed to be able to hide their antennae without object oriented programming.

Of course, maybe this is the group of Uryuom who DO use object oriented programming. Who escaped to Earth because they were persecuted for their religion on parent planet.

(I agree that it's easier to explain their change of look than in case of Klingons.)

 

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2 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Of course, maybe this is the group of Uryuom who DO use object oriented programming. Who escaped to Earth because they were persecuted for their religion on parent planet.

Curse you, C++ users! You have escaped the wrath of Windows 1500 BCE for now, but one day we shall have our revenge!

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3 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Note that Uryuoms don't have hive mind, so even if there are records, it may be top secret with no Uryuom we know knowing about them.

I meant more like folk legends as opposed to actual written records, but yes it could have been covered up as well.

3 hours ago, hkmaly said:

And they may be more friendly because those are different Uryuoms.

However, I did already raised the question if there may be some group of Uryuoms still holding grudge.

I would wonder if a group that still held a grudge might have been the source of the Damien Prophecy. Dunno exactly how that would work unless that group decided that in order to get the power that Humans had, they needed to breed with them and their Seyunolu offspring would then crush their enemies.

 

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12 minutes ago, Scotty said:
4 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Note that Uryuoms don't have hive mind, so even if there are records, it may be top secret with no Uryuom we know knowing about them.

I meant more like folk legends as opposed to actual written records, but yes it could have been covered up as well.

I find hard to believe that any civilization is capable of interstellar travel without paper trail. Metaphorically paper of course.

15 minutes ago, Scotty said:
4 hours ago, hkmaly said:

However, I did already raised the question if there may be some group of Uryuoms still holding grudge.

I would wonder if a group that still held a grudge might have been the source of the Damien Prophecy. Dunno exactly how that would work unless that group decided that in order to get the power that Humans had, they needed to breed with them and their Seyunolu offspring would then crush their enemies.

... that actually sounds like pretty logical thing. Like, less prophecy, more plan supported by scientific research. Something like Kwisatz Haderach - sure, that one was predicted, but predicted in universe where the prediction have scientifically verifiable results.

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Here's a question, if Uryuoms were on Earth in ancient times in the main universe, would they have also been to Earth in ancient times in Magus' universe?

Would Magus' history lessons have included a war between Humans and Uryuoms in which Magus might have a similar reaction that the golem did to humans having power.

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1 hour ago, hkmaly said:

I find hard to believe that any civilization is capable of interstellar travel without paper trail. Metaphorically paper of course.

When my father worked at Boeing (medical retirement in early 1970s, so the large majority of paperwork was physically on paper) the word was that if the paperwork on an airplane (by which they meant *each individual* airplane, not just a design) didn't outweigh the plane, it obviously couldn't fly yet.

A 747 weighs approximately 600,000 pounds. Empty.

That's about 3.6 *million* square meters of standard US 20-pound copy paper. There are about 16.5 pages per square meter. So, just under 60 million pages, assuming they don't use any other size of form (and in fact they routinely used several smaller forms, some of them considerably smaller).

The tale may have been an exaggeration - but maybe not. Each individual part, including the rivet fasteners, takes at least two signatures - one from the person who installed it, and one from the quality-control person who checked that it was installed properly. (Dad was on the quality-control side. Including on 747s, his last few years.) Some parts - not rivets, which Boeing buys by the ton - take considerably more than two signatures before they even get to installation. Oh, and if there's a problem with how a part is installed, but it can be fixed, there are two MORE signatures, one from the guy who fixes it and one from a quality-control guy. (I'm not sure how you'd want to count things when the QC guy says "take it out, throw it away, put in a different one" - but it definitely generates extra paperwork. And yes, the QC guys can and do say that.) There are about 1.5 million rivets on a 747. Along with a similar number of other fasteners. And another 3 million or so other parts.

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14 minutes ago, Don Edwards said:

so the large majority of paperwork was physically on paper

Starships can't have the paperwork physically on paper, unless they use that paper as propulsion system. Newton's laws, combined with fact that unlike airplanes, starship would need to carry most of that paper trail onboard.

Actually, the absolute limit on length of travel is the fact that travel log needs to fit into onboard computers.

10 minutes ago, Don Edwards said:

(by which they meant *each individual* airplane, not just a design)

While I meant the design, I'm not surprised the numbers hold even for individual plane.

11 minutes ago, Don Edwards said:

Each individual part, including the rivet fasteners, takes at least two signatures - one from the person who installed it, and one from the quality-control person who checked that it was installed properly. (Dad was on the quality-control side. Including on 747s, his last few years.) Some parts - not rivets, which Boeing buys by the ton - take considerably more than two signatures before they even get to installation. Oh, and if there's a problem with how a part is installed, but it can be fixed, there are two MORE signatures, one from the guy who fixes it and one from a quality-control guy. (I'm not sure how you'd want to count things when the QC guy says "take it out, throw it away, put in a different one" - but it definitely generates extra paperwork. And yes, the QC guys can and do say that.) There are about 1.5 million rivets on a 747. Along with a similar number of other fasteners. And another 3 million or so other parts.

And thanks to this, airplanes rarely fall.

Many applications have similar number of parts like the airplanes, but most of those parts don't even get mention in documentation, much less signature. And that's why applications fall all the time. Also, explains why application development cost less than building an airplane.

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I was tempted to consider the Uryuom revelation in this chapter may have some ties with the Lespuko, but the distinct contrast in their physiology from Uryuom is hard to miss.  I'm tempted to claim this was far back enough that it was before Lespuko and Uryuom became distinct from one another, but I won't push the issue.

On the other hand, this could explain the Second Life Universe - in the Second Life Universe, the Uryuom left the library alone and instead became integrated into society and Human life on Earth.  It depends on how far back Uryuom history in the Second Life world went.

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51 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:
1 hour ago, PrimordialSoul253 said:

It depends on how far back Uryuom history in the Second Life world went.

At least as far back as the American Revolutionary War.

Which is nowhere near as far back as the library fight.

1 hour ago, PrimordialSoul253 said:

On the other hand, this could explain the Second Life Universe - in the Second Life Universe, the Uryuom left the library alone and instead became integrated into society and Human life on Earth.

... however, considering that magic never appeared in second life universe ... I mean, sure, maybe just Ellen never found it, but it's also possible there was no library in that universe, or maybe Uryuoms WON and destroyed the library.

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3 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Aeronautical trivia is riveting.

Big talk from the Pharaoh who had almost 600.000 stone blocks hauled and precisely fitted into a pyramid.

And didn't even allow his workers to get stoned.

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35 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

Big talk from the Pharaoh who had almost 600.000 stone blocks hauled and precisely fitted into a pyramid.

Hmmm ... how big the paper trail was for pyramids? Papyrus trail, I mean.

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